Roughnecks' defender MacRae embraces captain's role

There is no shortage of leader types among the Calgary Roughnecks, guys with a wealth of experience and success at various levels of lacrosse from which to draw.

So when Dan MacRae was offered the team captaincy at the start of the 2018 campaign, he saw it as a collective, which made it all the more palatable.

“I’ve taken the approach that since I am new to this, I’m not walking in there thinking that I know everything about being a captain by any means,” began MacRae, an eight-year veteran on the Roughneck defence.

“I really lean on the other guys who wear letters and who have been around the league and the team a lot. Dane Dobbie is obviously the first guy that comes to mind. I don’t know if I’ve even said it to him specifically, but I rely on Dane so much. He’s such an emotional player and he carries what the emotion of the locker room is. I see it as a position by committee. I’m only as good as the guys around me and the guys around me have been doing a great job in helping me.”

MacRae will lead the troops into battle in Langley on Saturday night, as Calgary, 7-9, takes on the Vancouver Stealth (8 p.m. MT) in the penultimate game of the National Lacrosse League regular season.

Given the added responsibility and third letter of the alphabet on his chest, the 29-year-old has had to be more of a sounding board, a go-between for coaches and players, just one more weekly task for the business development manager from Oakville.

He’s been captain before: in junior, at university in Rochester, as well as an assistant with the Victoria Shamrocks.

“I went into it without wanting to change too much about my role on the team and the way I conduct myself,” said MacRae. “Be a positive guy, keep emotions in check and try to play to the best of your ability, which is the hardest part. You don’t want to get wrapped up in the white noise; you have to worry about your surroundings on the floor.

“I’ll even ask guys to say something, just to switch it up, so it’s not the same voice over and over. I’m trying to get as many guys involved as possible. That’s what we’ve been doing. I don’t know if it’s working out great or not … but that’s what’s going on.”

His take on the Roughnecks’ season is that after some growing pains early on, the team has finally figured it out. The new players, the new leadership group all have gone through the learning curves. Last weekend’s outcome – a 16–9 win over Buffalo – is the desired result each week out.

“We’ve had those games where the defence plays well but the offence doesn’t,” he pointed out. “If we put in the right preparation, everything comes in. We saw that formulate last weekend against Buffalo, where both sides of the ball were exceptional.”

MacRae’s area of expertise, the defence, will use this pre-playoff time to work on shoring itself as well.

“If we don’t have a good start, it’s hard not to want to squeeze your stick and go out there and make a difference, try to make something happen,” he explained. “We find we’re at our best when everyone is just doing their job at the back and playing within the system.

“Transitioning the ball, we need to be smarter with it. Get our offence the ball and give them quality time on the shot clock, unless we have a clear-cut breakaway. We have a lot of confidence in guys on the back end. But it’s all about controlling momentum. That’s big for our success down the road.”

The Stealth, who are a dismal 2-14 and still looking for their first home win, are a different type of challenge but a hefty one nonetheless.

“The year I’ve gone the farthest with the Roughnecks was 2014 and that run that we had leading into the playoffs, I think we were 7-1 or 8-1 (actually 6-1) and that just carried us,” said MacRae. “That’s the goal. They (the Stealth) have nothing to lose over there. They’re playing for respect, their jobs possibly, which can present a very difficult challenge. We’ve had some exciting games in that arena, so not expecting anything less.”

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